ABSTRACT
Shantytown women's resistance to the dictatorship was mostly quiet resistance: nonconfrontational and often clandestine. Only some of it took the form of efforts that might be described as mounting an offensive against the regime. Much of it was self-protection and community affirmation: ways of holding one's ground and refusing to be beaten down that may be compared to fighting off an enemy, as opposed to moving forward with an attack. Self-protection involved taking measures to lessen the chance of being at the receiving end of state violence. Shantytown women worked to protect self and family, their shantytown, and the groups to which they belonged. Community affirmation, meanwhile, involved nurturing the values of equality, democracy, sharing, and solidarity, paying homage to individuals who had died at the hands of the dictatorship, building bridges with other groups, fostering a community of women, and celebrating shantytown and group anniversaries. An examination of community affirmation and self-protection will follow an exploration of the nature of women's resistance: incidental, and sometimes reluctant and solidarity-focused.
